Apparatus for sealing closure caps to filled vials



APPARATUS FOR SEALING CLOSURE CAPS TO FILLED VIALS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 22, 1961 FIC-3.2

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May 28, 1963 w. A. sHlELDs APPARATUS FOR SEALING CLOSURE CAPS TO FILLED VIALS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 22, 1961 INVENTOR WALTER A. SHIELD?) ATTORNEY May 28, 1963 w. A. sHlELDs APPARATUS FOR SEALING CLOSURE CAPS T0 FILLED VIALS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed NOV. 22, 1961 R Y om E T. N N S. R EA .O V T NR T mm 0h r.. wY B s. C- v May 28, 1963 w. A. sHlELns 3,091,068

APPARATUS FOR SEALING cLosuRE CAPs To FILLED vIALs Filed Nov. 22, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 EEE.

INVENTOR WALTER A. SHlE/ DS BWM-W ATTORNEY May 28, 1963 w. A. SHIELDS 3,091,068

APPARATUS FOR SEALING CLOSURE CAPS TO FILLED VIALS Filed Nov. 22, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 F IG .e 7F 75 IHIIHHII INVENTOR WALTER A SHIELDS 23 fum/5%# ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,091,068 APPARATUS FOR SEALING CLOSURE CAPS I FILLED VIALS Walter A. Shields, Jamaica, NX. (3S-99 24th St., Long Island City 1, NPY.) Filed Nov. 22, 1961, Ser. No. 154,252 1 Claim. (Cl. 53 349) This invention relates to apparatus for sealing closure caps to illed vials.

It is an object of the invention to seal closure caps to filled vials by rst applying pressure to fthe closure cap and retaining the closure cap and vial against rotation and subsequently crimping a skirt portion of the closure cap around a bead of the vial by tools rotating around the skirt portion.

-It is another object of the invention to adjustably support the crimping tools to vary the space between the tools.

yIt is a further object of the invention to reciprocate the pressure applying means and the crimping tools by iluid pressure.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description of the invention.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this application:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the apparatus with the pressure applying means and crimping tools in their uppermost or inoperative position;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional View, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 2 2 of FIGURE l looking in the direction of the arrows to show the rotary mounting of a cam member;

FIGURE 3 is an edge view of a crimping tool, on an enlarged scale, looking from the line 3 3 of FIGURE 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the apparatus with a portion broken-away to show a foot actuated Valve for controlling a fluid pressure operated device reciprocating the pressure applying means, crimping tools and cam member;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE l on a larger scale and with the lower portion of the apparatus omitted and showing in section the operating parts of the pressure applying means and the crimping tools;

FIGURE `6 is a vertical-sectional view, on a reduced scale, ltaken on the line 6 6 of FIGURE 5 looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational View of a slide for reciprocating the cam member, crimping tools and pressure applying means and showing in dotted lines the operative positions of the slide;

FIGURE 8 is a vertical-sectional view of the cam member and a tubular member carrying the crimping tools with the pressure applying means and the crimping tools in operative position;

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a crimping tool taken on the line 9 9 of FIGURE 8 looking in the `direction of the arrows; and

'FIGURE l() is a fragmentary sectional view of the vial, closure cap, pressure applying means and crimping tools in the sealing operation.

The embodiment of the invention comprises a table having legs 11 supporting in elevation a top 12 and a shelf 13 adjacent to the .bottoms of the legs, as shown in FIGURE l.

A plurality of vials v having closure caps c on each vial v are manually placed in tubular holders 14 seated in openings of a circular plate 15 rotatably supported on a spindle 16 mounted in the table top 12. Said circular plate 15 is intermittently rotated by hand to successively position the holders 14 and the vials v having closure caps ggl Patented May 28, 1963 ICC opposite end of the arm 18 is arranged with a roller 2li' to successively engage the notches 17 and yieldingly retain the plate 15 against rotation by a spring 21 having one end secured to the block 19 and the opposite end engaging an intermediate edge portion of the arm 18, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. The vials v are supported in the holders 14 by a platform 22 mounted in spaced horizontal position relative to the table top 12 by spacers 23 replaceably engaged on studs 24 fixed in vertical position to the table `top 12, as shown in FIGURE 5. The height of the platform 22 is adjusted by dilerent length `spacers 23 to accommodate vials v of dierent lengths. The platform 22 is provided `with -a cushion seat 25 for supporting a vial v in Vertical alignment with the sealing means, as shown in FIGURES 5 and 8, whereby said vial is resiliently supported during lthe sealing or crimping operation.

In the present illustration of the invention, the closure cap c is provided with a hypodermic needle n extended through the closure cap c and retained in -a resilient plug p seated in the mouth of the vial v, as shown in FIGURE l0. The portion of the needle projecting above the closure ca-p is enclosed by a shield s. The skirt of the closure cap c is arranged with an extremity of reduced Wall thickness, as shown at r in FIGURE l0, to be crimped or rolled around a bead b of the vial v.

The sealing means is supported in elevation above the table top 12 by a standard including two elongated angle members 26 secured at their lower ends to a base 27, as by welding 28 as shown in FIGURES `6 and 7, and the base 27 is mounted on the table top 12. The upper portion of the standard 26 is provided with a shield comprising a top plate 29 secured to the standards 26 and side plates 3l) secured to the top plate 29 and the standard 26. Two slide-rods 31 are iixed at the opposite ends in the -base 2'7 and the top plate 29 for supporting a carrier comprising a slide 32 in the form of a iframe. A plate 33 is mounted on the slide 32 and is provided with a laterally extending arm 34 having the outer free end portion arranged as a split ring 35 having ears 36 for the engagement of a clamping bolt 37.

The slide 32 is reciprocated on the rods 31 by tiuid pressure, such as air pressure, through a rod 38 having the upper end adjustably connected to a connection 39 pivotally mounted on the slide plate 33, as at 40. The lower end portion of the rod 38 is slidably supported in a bushing 41 mounted in the table top 12 and the base 27. The lower end of the rod 3S is provided with a piston 42 operatively mounted in a cylinder 43 supported by the bushing 41 and having the end portions above and below the piston 42 connected in communication with the upper ends of pipings 44 and 45. The lower ends of the pipings 44 and 45 are connected in communication with a valve 46 supported on the shelf 13, as shown in FIGURES l and 4, and connected by piping 47 to a source of air pressure, such as a compressor, not shown. An air pressure regulator 48 is interposed in the piping 47 and an air pressure gauge 49 is mounted in communication with the regulator 48, as shown in FIGURE l. The valve 46 is actuated by a pedal 50 pivotally mounted on the valve 46 and actuated to foot engaging position by a spring 51. The valve is constructed to operate in sequence by successively depressing the pedal 50 so that the air pressure Hows from the piping 47 to the piping 45 while shutting-off the flow of air pressure from the piping 47 to the piping 44 and permitting the air pressure above the piston 42 to flow through the piping 44 and valve 46 tothe piping 45, as vindicatedl by the arrows in FIGURE l, to actuate the piston 42 in anY upward direction in the cylinder 43 and move the slide 32 in an upward direction. The successive depressing of the pedal 50 will shut-ott communication between the pipings 47 andU 45 and open communication between the pipings 47 and 44 while permitting the ow of air pressure `from the bottom of the cylinder 43 through the piping 45 and valve 46 whereby the piston 42 is moved in a downward direction in the cylinder 43 to actuate the slide 32 in a downward direction. This sequence of depressing the pedal 50 is repeated after the plate 15 is rotated to present a vial v having a closure cap c placed thereon in horizontal alignment with the rod 3S to seal said closure cap c to saidrvial v.

f Closure cap sealing means is carried by the arm 34 and comprises an annular ball-bearing race 52 clamped in the split ring 35 by tightening the bolt 37 and a spring washer 53 engaged in an annularrecess in the ball-bearing race and abutting the bottom of the arm 34 and thev split ring 35, as shown in FIGURE 8. A sleeve 54 is supported in the ball-bearing race 52 with a cam face portion 55 extended below the arm 34 and a reduced screw-threaded portion 56 extended above the arm 34 and engaged by a collar 57 screw-threaded on the portion 56 and abuttingV the ball-bearing race 52. A tubular member 58 is mounted in the sleeve 54 by shims 59 engaged in recesses in the sleeve 54 for providing sliding movement to the tubular member 55 independently of the sleeve 54, as shown in FIGURE 8. The lower end portion of the tubular member 58 is extended below the sleeve 54 Yand the extremity of said lower end portion is of reduced diameter for securing a bracket 66 thereon by set-screws 61, as shown in FIGURE 3. The bracket 60 is provided with a bifurcation 62 extended from diametrically Yopposite sides of the bracket 'for pivotally supportinga lever 63 in eachV bifurcation 62,Y as shown at 64 in FIGURE 6. The upper end of each lever 63 is bifurcated for the rotatable mounting of a roller 65 in contact with the cam face portion 55 and said rollers 65 being yieldingly urged into said contact by springs 66 anchored at the opposite ends to pins 67 projecting from the opposite sides of each lever between the pivot 64 and roller 65. The lower end of each lever 63 is arranged ywith a groove 68 extending in an'oblique plane for the adjustable mounting of a sealing member or crimping tool 69 of tool steel, such as Carboloid, having an elongated opening 70 thereinhaving aY length greater than the diameter of the shank of a bolt 71 engaged in said opening and screw-threaded in the lever 63, as shown in FIGURE 8. An end portion of each tool 69 is projected from the inner edge of each lever 63 and provided with a beveled edge 72. The crimping portion of each tool 69 is deiined by an upper surfaceY 73 and a. short part of the beveled edge 72 extending at a rightangle to said upper surface 73, as shown at 74 in FIGURE 10.

The upper end portion of the tubular member 58 is extended above the collar 57 and a collar 75 is adjustable on said end portion -by a set-screw 76 threaded in the Y collar 75 to engage an elongated recess 77 in the tubular member 58, as shown in FIGURE 8. The collarY 75 abuts the collar 57 `and the portion 56 whereby reciprocation of the slide 32 is Vimparted to the tubular member 58 and the crimping tools 69. The adjustment of the collar 75 on the tubular member 5S -will vary the distance between the bracket 60 and the cam face portion 55 and thereby vary the space between the crimping tools 69.

A housing is supported by an end portion of the tubu-V lar member S extendingabove the collar 75 and comprises a lower section 78 having a boss 79 secured to the tubular member 58 by a set-screw 8i?, as shown in FIG- URE v5. An upper housing section 81 is provided with a boss S2 having a spur-gearg83 xed thereon and meshing with an elongated pinion 34 iXed on a shaft S5 rotatably mounted in a bearing 86 on the top plate 2.9. The upper end portion of the shaft S5 is extended above the bearing 86V and a pulley 87 is fixed to said extended end -of the shaft S5. An electric motor 88 is mounted on the standard 26 and provided with a pulley 89 engaged by a belt 91D engaging the pulley 87, as shown in FIGURES l and4, whereby the upper housing section 81 is rotated by the motor 88 and said rotation is imparted to the lower housing section 7S through bolts 91 securing said housing sections to each other, as shown in FIGURES l and 6. The housing 78, 81 is yieldingly connected to the cam sleeve54 by springs 92, each spring having one end anchored to a pin 93 extended laterally from the collar 57 and the other end securedV to a plate 94 suspended from the lower housing section 78, whereby rotation of the housing 78, 31 is imparted to the cam sleeve 54 through said springs 92 and the collar 57 connected to the cam sleeve andV the butt engagement of thecollar 75 with the collar 57 and the cam sleeve 54. The crimping tools 69 are continuously rotated around the vertical axis of the vial v seated on the cushion 25 while being reciprocated by the slide 32 due to the length of the pinion 84 which is -longer than the length of the reciprocal movement of theslide 32.,

During the rotation of the crimping tools 69 around the closure cap whenrthe slide 32,V is approaching its lowerrnost positionV and before said crimping toolsrare moved by the cam face yportionV 55 into engagement with therskirt portion r of the closure cap c placed on the vial v supported byV the cushion 25, pressure is applied to the closure Ycap to compress the resilient plug p in the Y lmouth of said vial v and said pressure is maintained during the crimping of said skirt portion-r by the tools 69. |This is `accomplished by a plunger 95 slidably mounted in a bearing 96 lfixed to the exterior of the top plate29 and said plunger 95 is retained against rotation by providing aY flat 97 on the upperend portion of the fplunger 95 slidably mounted in the ybearing 96 and a bar 9S -secured in a recess in the bearing 96 in engagement with said at 97, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. rIhe plunger 95 is slidable in the bosses 79 and82 of the housing 78, 81j, and said housing is rotatably supported by the portion of the plunger 95 within the housing 78, 81 by a ball-bearing race 99 engaged on a shoulder in the lower housing `section 7S and clamped to said shoul der by the upper housing section V81. The race 99 is also supported by a coupling 100 xed on the plunger, 95, as shown in FIGURE 5, whereby the plunger 95 is reciprocated' with theV housing 78, 81 and the tubular member 58 without participatinginithe rotation of said housing 78, 81 and the'tubular member 58, The plunger 95 is extended through the tubular member 58 with annular shims 101i interposed between the tubularmember 58 and the plunger 95, as shown in FIGURES 5 and 8. The lower portion of the plunger 95 is extended below the tubular member 58 and terminated' above the Yplane of the crimping movement of the tools 69, as shown in FIGURESl, 5, 8 and l0. Said lower end of the plunger 95 is recessed, as at 102, to accommodate theshield s and needlen when a `beveled edge 163 of the plunger 95 engages the top of the closure cap c, as shown in FIG- URES 8 and 1G. The downward movement of the plunger 95 is llimited by a stop 104 adjustably mounted on the upper end portion of said plunger to abut the bearing 96, as shown in FIGURES'I and 5.

The pulleys 87, 89 and the Vbelt 9 0 are protected by a shield 105 supported by arbracket 106 from the top plate' 29, and said shield is provided with a dome 107 to accommodate the reciprocal movement of the plunger 95, as shown in FIGURE 1.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Vials v having Vclosure caps c placed thereon are positioned in the tubular holders 14 and the plate or turn-table 15 is rotated until the detent engages a notch 17 which will position one of said vials v on the cushion in vertical alignment with the plunger 95. During the positioning of the vials v in the tubular holders 14, the slide 32 is in its uppermost position by depressing the pedal to actuate the valve 46 to open communication between the tubings 47 and 45, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 6, so that the crimping tools 69 are spaced above the path of travel of the shields s and needles n. After the positioning of a vial v on the cushion 25, the electric motor 88 is started and the pedal 50 is depressed to actuate the valve 46 to close the communication between the tubings 47 and 45 and open the communication between the tubings 47 and 44 whereby the slide 32 is moved in a downward direction carrying the cam sleeve 54, crimping tools 69 and plunger 95 therewith whereby the beveled edge y10?) will irst engage the closure cap c and compress the resilient plug p in the mouth of the vial v with the rotating crimping portions 74 spaced from and in a horizontal plane slightly below the closure cap skirt portion r, and subsequently the rotating crimping tools 69 are moved in an are toward the closure cap skirt portion r by the cam face portion to engage the crimping portions 74 with the closure cap skirt portion r and crimp said skirt portion around the bead b of the vial v, as shown in FIGURE lO. The final downward movement of the cam sleeve 54 to move the crimping portions 74 into engagement with the skirt portion r will not impart additional downward movement to the crimping tools 69 because of the independent sliding engagement between the cam sleeve 54 and the tubular member 58 and the yielding of the springs 92. The positions of the slide 32 are shown in FIGURE 7, dotted line a indicating the position of the slide 32 when the crimping portions 74 are in the position shown in FIGURE 5, and dotted line d showing the position of the slide 32 when the crimping portions 74 are in the position shown in FIGURES 8 and 10. After the skirt portion r is crimped to the bead b of the vial v, the pedal 50 is depressed to operate the valve 46 to close the communication between the pipings 47 and 44 and open the communication between the pipings 47 and 45, whereby the piston 42 is moved upward in the cylinder 43 to actuate the cam sleeve 54, crimping tools 69 and plunger upwardly from said vial v. Due to the greater downward movement of the cam sleeve 54, the initial upward movement of the slide 32 will rst move the high portion of the cam face 55 from the rollers 65 thereby permitting the springs 66 to move the crimping portions 74 from the 6 closure cap skirt portion r before the .slide 32 moves the crimping tools 69 and the plunger 95 in an upward direction.

lAfter the crimping tools 69 and plunger 9S are raised from the sealed vial, the plate 15 is rotated until the pawl 2t) engages lthe succeeding notch :17 at which time the sealed vial will drop through an opening 108 in the platform 22 into a tubular chute i109 mounted in an opening in the table 12 and leading to a depository, not shown.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In apparatus for sealing closure caps to vials, means for supporting in upright position -a Vial having a closure cap placed thereon, a carrier reciprocally mounted to have movement in a vertical plane toward and away from said vial on the supporting means, a cylinder having ports at the opposite ends, a piston operatively mounted in the cylinder and connected to the carrier, valve mechanism connected in communication with a source of iiuid pressure and connected to the ports of the cylinder and adapted to alternately control the ow of uid pressure to said ports and cause reciprocation lof the piston in the cylinder, a cam sleeve rotatably supported by -the carrier and participating in the reciprocal movement of the carrier, sealing members pivotally mounted to move toward and away from each other and supported by the cam sleeve and having sliding movement independent of the terminal movement of the cam sleeve toward lthe vial on the supporting means, cam followers carried by the sealing members and yieldingly urged into engagement with the cam sleeve, a plunger slidably supported and retained against rotation and rotatably connected to the Sealing members and extended in a vertical plane between the sealing members, and means to `rotate the sealing members around the longitudinal axis of the plunger during the reciprocation of the carrier, whereby reciprocation of the carrier toward the vial on the supporting means engages the plunger with -the closure cap to forcibly retain the closure cap on the tVial and the subsequent terminal reciprocation of the carrier toward the vial moving the sealing members toward each other into sealing engagement with the closure cap.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,094,776 Brinkman Apr. 28, 1914 1,541,389 Potdevin June 9, 1925' 1,661,401 Arnstein Mar. 6, 1928 

